Some federal civil servants at the weekend were gripped with fear over the security of their jobs following claims that the government has started weeding out those who obtained their degree certificates from unrecognised universities in Benin Republic and Togo.
The situation was heightened by a post on the verified social media handle of former Senator Shehu Sani, who decried the alleged sack of the affected civil servants.
Senator Sani wrote, “Thousands of guys who graduated from the Benin Republic universities, got jobs and married with kids are the ones hardest hit with this mass sacking by the FG. I appeal to the government to reconsider the sacking by creating an opening for them to make up with a Nigerian degree through the open university system.”
However, the Federal Civil Service Commission has denied the claim of mass sacks of workers who obtained their degrees from the two countries.
Responding to an inquiry by Vanguard, the Head of the Civil Service Commission, through Taiwo Hassan, the Head of Press and Media Relations, denied any current mass disengagement within the civil service, emphasising that the Commission had not received any formal recommendation for such action.
“At our end, there is no disengagement for now. They have to push it to us, or maybe when they get to us, there’s another round of sitting to look at it,” the official explained.
“At times, they can invite those people involved. You know the procedures. So if they recommend that from where it’s coming from, we will consider it.”
The Commission further reiterated its statutory role, stating, “The Commission holds the power to employ, transfer, dismiss, discipline, and promote. If you ask me if we are dismissing now, I will say no.
We have not dismissed anybody, and this is based on what I know at this moment. Disengagement is not something hidden.”
Recall that earlier this year, a panel was set up by the erstwhile Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, to investigate the degree mills allegedly operating from some neighbouring African countries.
The panel, headed by Prof. Jubril Aminu, came out with the report that over 22,000 fake certificates were obtained by Nigerians from unrecognised universities in Benin and Togo, particularly between 2019 and 2023.
While commenting on the report of the panel, Mamman had said, “From all indications in the report, the figure might be higher than what we have already. This is because some of the people choose not to participate in the mandatory NYSC scheme and other engagements that would have enabled us to harvest their data.
“Sadly, these people have used the fake certificates to apply and secure job opportunities in government and private organisations with the mindset that they schooled abroad, while people who studied day and night are out there looking for job opportunities.
“Even within the countries, Benin and Togo, these universities are not accredited to offer degree programs. I don’t know how Nigerians chose to go to unaccredited institutions abroad to ‘study’. Our investigations also indicated that many of the people never even attended the school physically.”
He added then that a circular had been prepared from the Office of Head of Service of the Federation that would enable the government fish out of the people for prosecution.
